Special Report
Monday November 08, 2004
Texas Woman Files Vioxx Lawsuit After Undergoing Heart Surgery
Source: PR Newswire
Published: October 06, 2004
A South Texas woman on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Merck & Company, alleging she had to undergo open-heart surgery after using Vioxx for less than a year to treat her arthritis pain.
On September 30, 2004 Merck announced that it was pulling Vioxx from all worldwide markets after a study confirmed that it increases a patients' risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke.
The lawsuit, filed by Olga Sanchez, 67, of Pharr, is among the first in Texas of what is expected to be a flood of patient Vioxx lawsuits.
"Merck pharmaceutical company aggressively marketed this drug directly to
consumers knowing it carried significant health risks, Plaintiff's attorney Ricardo Garcia said. "In doing so, Merck actively deceived consumers, which is a violation of Texas law."
Merck has said that cardiac problems in its test groups surfaced only
after 18 months of use. However, Garcia pointed out that Mrs. Sanchez had
been using the drug less than a year.
"I believe we will be seeing more of this across the country as Vioxx users become aware of problems with this drug," Garcia said.
The lawsuit accuses Merck of negligence for failure to warn consumers about potential risks or to adequately test the drug, knowingly distributing a defective product, misrepresenting or actively concealing known risks from the public, and violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Texas Food, Drug, Alcohol and Cosmetic Act, Garcia said in a press release.
Two doctors also are included as defendants in the lawsuit: Dario Arango,
M.C., and Emery L. Suderman, D.O.
Read Full Story at PR Newswire
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Vioxx Resources
Merck
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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